An introduction to Excel pivot tables

Do you need to analyse a huge amount of data and run a comprehensive report based on that? The best way to address this is by building an Excel pivot table that you can further use to display, re-arrange and filter your complex data conveniently. This article summarises a few Excel 2007 guidelines that will help you with that.

Pivot tables: The basics

To create a pivot table in Excel, you have to connect to a data source and set the location of your report. Make sure that your data doesn't include any empty rows and that the columns have descriptive headings. First, click on a cell somewhere inside the data, then go to 'Insert tab' and in the 'Tables group'. Click the 'PivotTable' button. At this point, Excel selects all the data into your pivot. It tells you where it is selected and it asks you where to put the table. The best option is to choose 'New Worksheet'. However, if you decide to place your table in the 'Existing Worksheet,' specify the first cell in the range of cells where you want to position your pivot table. Initially, a pivot table is empty. Excel creates a place holder box and displays the pivot table field list on the right side of your screen so that you can add fields, create a layout and customise your pivot table report.

The ways in which to work with a pivot table

The pivot table will help you query a large amount of data in a user-friendly way. You can create subtotals and summarise data by categories and subcategories and insert formulas as well as custom calculations. You can "pivot" the data by moving rows to columns and columns to rows to see different summaries of your source data from different angles. You have the possibility to filter, sort, group or conditionally format the most important subset of data that you need to analyse. You can further explore your data by expanding and collapsing it and show the underlying details that are relevant to the values. In order to produce the most concise and attractive reports, you can change the form layout (compact, outline or tabular) and field arrangement. You can establish the way in which empty cells or errors are shown and you can choose to display or hide blank lines. For further details, have a look at the 'Microsoft Office Excel Help'.